Happy Solstice! Being June 21, it’s time to pack up the ukuleles and git boxes and play for Make Music Madison. Maybe it’s because it’s on a weekday this year, or maybe just because I’m lazy, I’m only playing one gig this time. There might be only 3 people listening at 3:00 PM on a Tuesday, but those lucky folks are going to get my finest crooning and picking.

Jealous?

Actually, I’ll be accompanying Christine Costanzo during her set (following mine, at 4:00), so I suppose that counts as 2 gigs. I’ve always had fun playing Christine’s house, with the friendly crowd and great view of Lake Monona. But shoot, I’ve got to get practicing if I’m going to be debuting 3 songs this afternoon.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 2 years since I last played at Backwoods Fest. In 2014, I was thrilled to have Chris Wagoner and Mary Gaines noodle along behind me during my ukulele set. As exciting as that serendipitous rendezvous was for me, this year’s set was over the top. Not only did Chris and Mary play with me on every song, I was also blessed with the talents of Reid Johnston on tuba!

We also played a set of Reid’s songs, with me on bass. If my bass playing was unspectacular, I don’t think anyone noticed, as Reid regaled the campers with musical tales of drunken zoo animals, diaper changes, and smart-phone-induced hemorrhoids. Thankfully, we were able to have a rehearsal the week before and get somewhat familiar with the songs. My own performance was not highly polished, but (as you’ll see in some upcoming videos) my bandmates more than made up for my awkwardness.

Speaking of videos, I posted one from our set Facebook. It’s a Tom Waits cover, so Take a peek, before it get’s taken down for copyright violation or some such.

I would sincerely like to continue playing shows with this remarkable crew, and we will reconvene in July to plot a course for the future.

I’ll keep you posted.

Thine,

Bradley

Related show

Notes:Brad will be accompanied by Reid Johnston on tuba, Mary Gaines on cello, and Chris Wagoner on everything else. This is a semi-private event. Contact Brad if you’re in the area and would like to attend!

This website has looked pretty much the same for 3 years. That’s like a million Internet years. And so, spring in Wisconsin finds me sketchin’ and codin’ – and relearning the html and css stuff that makes everything look pretty. I can’t claim all the credit, of course, since the guts are provided by the wonderful folks at WordPress. Oliver at Webman provided the theme that has helped put all my stuff in the right places.

Now it’s time for a change.

It’s fun to put together something new. It turns out that the hard part is getting all the old crap to look decent in the new layout. I’ve had to throw out a bunch of old stuff and recreate some pages from scratch. The process has kicked my ass, and made me realize how much new stuff I need. Not just on the site, but in the real world. New songs. New gigs. New connections.

I’ll be ready to switch over to the new design in a week, but there’s still a lot to do. For now, here’s a peek at the new front page:

I was pleased to see my name in the “historic and guest drivers” list in the credits of the latest Getaway Drivers disc. It wasn’t long after I shared my joy on Instagram that I got a message from the band, requesting my guitar-playing services for their performance at this year’s prestigious Wurst Times Fest.

Of course I promptly agreed to hit the stage again with my old buds. Then the dread kicked in: I’ll need to re-learn the old songs, plus figure out how to play a trunk-full of their new ones. And I can’t find my cheat sheets from last time.

I know what you are thinking. There is plenty of time before the gig. The Drivers are a nice bunch, and will put up with my fumbling those G6 chords. For a while. And I am not so terrible a guitar player, after all.

I know all that, friends.

So why does it still seem like I’m going in to take my driver’s test again?

After hearing about FAWM (February Album Writing Month) for a few years, I finally went to fawm.org signed up. It seemed like a perfect way to get my songwriting ass into gear. The combination of the time constraint and the accountability is just what I need to crank out a new batch of tunes in this Wisconsin winter – even though there are days that I’d rather be in hibernation.

Can I write 14 songs in 28 days? Sure. 14 good songs? We shall see. I have several songs in progress, but they don’t count – I’ll need to put them on hold and start fresh on Monday morning. I am trying not to start actually writing until then, but I do have a theme and a bunch of titles already. Luckily, when I looked up the rules just now, I learned that “if you’re planning a concept album it’s OK to start doing research.” And existing riffs and ideas are also allowed. So I’m golden.

As I considered themes for my FAWM, I pulled a blank composition notebook off the shelf in which to write my songs. The notebook I happened to grab was completely blank – except for the word “Whittlesey” written on the cover in black Sharpie. Thus I have my title.

Whittlesey was already the name of a semi-planned music project which I had hopefully scrawled on the notebook sometime in the past year or three. The idea is to capture some of the spirit of the Wisconsin Northwoods I experienced growing up, visiting my grandmother the deer hunter, fur trapper, and berry picker, her sister the tavern keeper and fishing pole maker. The time I spent in the woods and the tavern resonate with me still, and there’s plenty of songs waiting up there for me. We’ll see how many I can harvest in February.

Stay tuned for the recordings!

Today I found out that first-year fawmers are called “Fawmlings.” With any luck, I’ll be back next year as a veteran.